


Freedom

by Bethfly



Category: Batman (Comics), DCU (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, New 52, New 52 Fix Fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-23
Updated: 2015-02-11
Packaged: 2018-01-20 13:19:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 9
Words: 16,709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1511963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bethfly/pseuds/Bethfly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Damian Wayne, on patrol as Robin, finds a girl with glowing green eyes and uncovers the answers to mysteries that haunted Dick Grayson for years.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The girl

**Author's Note:**

> Please read archive warnings! There is some content dealing with child prostitution. It's not super explicit, but be aware if that's something you don't want to read about.
> 
> Well, this is the first fan fiction I've posted in many years. I never stopped writing, but it was always for my own consumption only. I'm nervous and not 100% sure why I'm doing this. Our stories are glimpses into the workings of our minds, and I'm self-conscious about my mind. So, with that... enjoy.

When the sun set, Gotham awoke from its slumber. The city gleamed bright against the dark sky, the heavy smell of gasoline and smoke rising from the streets. Cars roared along the roads at all hours of the night, and the danger was so thick in the air that a person could feel it on their tongue. Cautious Gotham citizens stayed in their homes when the sun disappeared, because the night belonged to the shady, the criminals and the rogues.

Robin scoffed to himself and tuned the binoculars in his mask, scanning the city below him.

“Robin to Cave. Too quiet here.” Damian said quietly into the radio in his ear, observing the traffic slither along below.

“I wouldn’t advise complaining too loudly, Master Damian. The criminals might hear you.” the prim voice of Alfred replied through the static of the radio. “Your father is following a lead tonight. He has instructed you to continue your patrol.”

Robin rolled his eyes. “I should be out there helping him, Alfred.”

“You will do more good if you maintain vigilance on street crime tonight, Master Damian.”

“I know. Doesn't mean I have to like it.” Robin shot his grappling hook to the skyscraper across the street, then he leapt into the sky. Feeling the wind whip across his face always made him feel more alive than ever.

He re-tuned his radio to the police frequency, but found no unusual police chatter. Irritated, Robin shifted his binoculars to the dirty back alleys, looking for something, _anything_ suspicious. All he saw was a couple of passed-out junkies, a homeless man sleeping, and… someone raiding a dumpster. Frowning, he zeroed in on the dumpster.

A girl, no older than his own twelve years, rooted through the trash. A dirt-crusted man’s sweatshirt and a pair of grey leggings clothed her, but she wore no shoes. Tan skin peeked out from under her clothes, and her tangled black hair caught all of the sticky mess in the trash she was picking through. Clearly, hygiene was not her first consideration.

However, she seemed ordinary enough… until she turned around, revealing her solid-green eyes glowing so brightly they lit up her whole face.

“Cave… are you seeing this?” Damian muttered, zooming in on her face.

“I see it, Master Damian.” Alfred replied. “What do you think she is?”

“Meta… or alien.” Damian said. “I’m going to find out.”

Without another word, he jumped off the edge and threw out his cape to slow his descent into a glide. He landed softly on the ground in front of the entrance to the alley, and he quickly surveyed the escape routes. He blocked the main road, but the alley twisted further into back roads that Damian judged he could handle if the girl tried to run. If she didn’t have super-speed, of course.

At the soft sound of his feet landing, the girl fell from the dumpster and whirled around to face him. She was tense, he noted, and breathing shallowly. Ready to flee in a second.

“We don’t find many metas rooting through dumpsters in Gotham city.” Robin said conversationally, taking the chance to observe the girl a little closer. He noticed a silver collar with blinking lights fastened around her throat. _An inhibitor collar_ , he realized with rare surprise. _So, she’s either an escaped criminal, or…_

“Meta?” the girl echoed, her face twisting in confusion. “What’s a meta?”

Another surprise. The girl was just full of them. “So you aren’t a meta?” Robin took a cautious step forward, testing her distraction. She noticed and took a mirrored step backward. “What are you, then? Alien?”

Now comprehension spread through the girl’s face, but it was tinged with a hard edge that Robin hadn’t expected. “Alien.” she said in a low voice that bespoke a deep mental wound. “That’s what they call me.”

Robin filed the observation away, and made a quick couple of deductions. The girl was easily frightened and always ready to flee. She was wearing an inhibitor collar, so she must have powers of some kind. Finally, she said the word “alien” like an insult. _Someone abuses her,_ Robin realized. _Someone keeps her docile with the collar and hurls the word ‘alien’ at her while they hurt her. She must be on the run, then._

“What were you looking for in the trash?” Robin questioned, relaxing his tight stance. If she had the collar on, she couldn’t hurt him anyway.

Now the girl looked slightly ashamed. “Food.” she said, sounding very small. “I’m hungry. They barely feed me.”

“They?” Robin pushed. “Who is ‘they’?”

She stayed quiet, indecision flashing through her expression, until a noise interrupted. It was only a tiny noise, just a slight scuff of a shoe against gravel behind Damian, but that noise was enough warning for Damian to tackle the girl and throw them both behind the dumpster before a barrage of bullets ripped through the alley.

“Mar'i!” a gruff male voice called. “We’ve been looking all over for you, girl!”

“Come on out, little alien!” another male voice, slick and sultry, added. “I’m missing my appointment with you!”

Beneath him, the girl let out an involuntary squeak of fear. _This is the ‘they’._ Damian decided, gritting his teeth. He picked himself up and crouched behind the dumpster, readying a flash-bang. With one warning look at Mar'i, who seemed frozen, Robin tossed the flash-bang over his shoulder and closed his eyes. The loud pop and subsequent cursing was his reward. However, when Robin opened his eyes, he let out a curse of his own. The girl had vanished.

Mentally grappling between disarming the thugs and chasing down the girl, Damian huffed to himself and leapt out from behind the dumpster. While the goons were rubbing their teary eyes angrily, he knocked the guns from their hands and put them down with a couple of forceful punches. Then he sped off down the alley in pursuit.

The alley dumped him out in an empty parking lot. He assessed the area and let out another string of foul curses. The girl was nowhere to be found, and there were at least three different directions she could have fled, all leading into different populated roads.

“Robin to Cave.” Damian said impatiently into his radio. “I need eyes on the streets. Send the picture of that girl to all of our associates. I need her tracked down _now_.”

“Is she a threat, Master Damian?” Alfred inquired.

“No, the opposite. She’s in danger. Do it now, Pennyworth.”

 _Mar'i_ , Damian thought to himself as he shot himself up to the nearest roof, the name echoing through his mind alongside the image of her glowing eyes.

 

   “Alfred, where’s Damian?”

Alfred set the tray of tea and scones down on the table beside the huge Batcomputer. “He is… distracted, Master Bruce.” Alfred said delicately. Bruce snapped on his gloves to finish off the Batsuit, frowning thoughtfully.

“The girl again.” he said without question. Alfred’s silence answered him. Shaking his head slightly, Bruce touched the radio in his ear and said, “Batman to Robin. We have a mission tonight.”

“I’ll be down in a minute.” his son’s sulky voice responded. Bruce couldn’t suppress a fond smile. Nothing in the world felt better than hearing his son sound like the rebellious teenager he was supposed to be.

When the door to the Batcave slid open again, a fully-dressed Robin scowled at Bruce as he descended the stairs to the main hub. “You could have just walked up to talk to me.” he drawled.

“You know how big this house is, Damian.” Bruce said teasingly, but Damian’s edge didn’t soften even a bit. Bruce sighed to himself. He knew exactly what he would have found, too. Damian would have been staring at the picture of the girl he’d failed to rescue, just like he did every day of the week that passed since the encounter.

“We’ll find the girl, Damian.” said Batman firmly as he stood up from the computer. Something about the imposing figure of his father decked in the Batsuit, the wall of dark muscle he became, always reassured Damian no matter how reluctant he was, and he _was_ reluctant to be comforted tonight. He sent the picture to every member of the Bat family and every other vigilante in Gotham that he had connections to, but not a single one saw the girl in any part of Gotham. No one could disappear that thoroughly from the network of surveillance the Batman had control over, yet somehow, she did.

His father’s voice broke through Damian’s thoughts. “We have a mission tonight.”

“Are you finally ready to tell me the details of this lead you’ve been working on?” Damian said resentfully.

“Black Mask’s funding has risen exponentially over the past year.” Batman said, all business. “I’ve been investigating and found his… enterprises have expanded into child prostitution.” The look that crossed Damian’s face was the exact reason that Bruce had kept him away from the investigation until he drew an exact plan of action.

“Hurting children is unforgivable.” Damian said, a frightening darkness infusing his voice.

“I agree,” Bruce said, “but I will only allow you to go on this mission with me if you swear to me that you will follow my orders and only use the minimum amount of force necessary.” He saw the look of incredulity cross Damian’s face and stalled the protests by putting his hand up. “You and I both know that this particular issue is a sore spot for you, considering your history. I don’t want you going overboard in your attempt to help, but I do want you on this mission. You have to promise me that you can control yourself and you won’t hurt anyone unnecessarily, or you won’t be leaving this house tonight.”

Damian’s fists and jaw clenched as he worked through his outrage. “... Fine.” he finally agreed. Bruce fixed him with a hard look, and he added, “I _promise_. Now can we go?”

Bruce hesitated for a moment, then nodded. This would be his test, proving once and for all that the lessons Bruce taught him had sunk in deep enough to counter the abuse his mother and grandfather put him through when he was younger and more fragile.

The Batmobile, already powered on and warmed, rose from its hidden compartment below the floor with a soft hum, warm smoky breeze billowing from its engines. The duo took their seats, and Batman entered the coordinates. Then, with a fiery roar, the Batmobile’s engines kicked into life and the car shot out of the cave, into the waiting night.

 

   The location didn’t seem suspicious from the outside. An old, run-down inn that didn’t seem to cater to many tourists, yet remained open nonetheless. In retrospect, it seemed almost too obvious. A single man would check in for the night, and in his room he’d find… Damian’s teeth clenched again, and he had to fight the rage down through his body until his jaw loosened. He couldn’t lose control on this mission, or his father would never let him out of the house again.

“Locate the boss.” Batman whispered over Damian’s shoulder as the two observed the quiet inn. “Subdue him but _do not_ put him down. We need to question him.”

Batman swept around Robin and positioned himself beside the front door, then motioned for Robin to take his position. Robin crept against the other side of the door, breathing shallowly and suppressing the murderous rage that threatened to fill his body. The duo took a moment to assess and heard nothing through the door… then Batman kicked the door in, and the two rushed into the room.

A man behind the front desk screamed and tried to run, but Batman leaped over the desk and grabbed the man by the front of his shirt. “Where is your boss?” Batman roared, and the man whimpered in fear.

“H-He’s in the office! Through that door!” he cried, pointing at the door on the left wall of the reception room.

Damian tensed as a sudden dread washed over him, then yelled, “GET DOWN!”

The door to the office burst open to an explosion of bullets. Damian flew behind the office door, into the blind spot of the spray, without a moment to check on his father. The bullets rained down for a moment, and as soon as they paused, Robin ducked out from behind the door. In an automatic movement, he kicked the submachine gun from the boss’s right hand at the same moment as Batman knocked the other SMG from the man’s right hand and delivered two quick but punishing punches, first to the man’s gut and then to his face. Batman covered the man’s chest with one arm and grabbed his throat with the other, using the momentum to slam him against the wall hard enough to make his teeth click.

“Where are the kids?” Batman growled.

“Not tellin’.” The man grunted, his teeth stained red.

“That is a bad idea.” Batman said warningly, his grip tightening.

“You-ou ain’t scarier than my boss.” the man coughed.

“I see you’d like to test that.” Batman replied gravely, pulling a sharp, shiny Batarang from his belt. The man’s eyes widened in fear, then flicked downward, toward the floor, a motion that drew that Batman’s attention. “Robin, search the rooms for any kids and get them to safety.” he ordered. “Then case the inn for a basement entrance, something easily hidden from police searches.” Robin nodded and left Batman to his questioning.

Kicking open the first door revealed a sixteen-year-old girl, frightened and clothed in only lingerie. He ushered her out of the room and ordered her to hide until he came to find her again. The next three doors revealed girls of various ages, from thirteen to seventeen, guarded by armed pimps that Robin had no trouble disarming. Many doors after that were empty, and a couple of doors revealed young girls with older men on top of them. These Robin punished firmly and took special care to restrain for the police. Every child he found, he sent into hiding with the others until he had searched the whole building. Room after room he searched, saving child after child, until finally, he had only the dilapidated suite left to search.

He kicked open the door as he had so many times and found a skinny man around roughly fifty running his hands along the naked, bony body of a girl whose wrists were tied to the headboard of the bed they were laying on. The man shrieked in surprise, whirling around toward the door while fumbling with the pants around his ankles. Robin spin-kicked the man’s face, and he hit the floor with a cold thud. He treated the unconscious john to a disgusted look, then turned his attention to the girl. He moved forward to untie her, but with one good look at her, he froze.

The glowing green eyes he’d been staring at for so many hours finally stared back.

 

   When all the girls had been safely loaded into police cars, all the pimps arrested, and still no sign of Robin emerging from the inn, Batman had to force his worry down. He retreated unnoticed from the flashing police lights and slipped back into the shadow of the inn, intending to find his son, but he took only a couple of steps before his son found him.

Robin stepped forward into the reception room, supporting a dark-haired girl wrapped in a stained bedsheet. “Batman.” he said in a low voice, tainted by uncharacteristic worry. The girl’s eyes glowing bright green blinked back at him. Batman focused on her for a moment. He’d immediately recognized her as the girl from Robin’s photo, but upon closer inspection, she seemed very familiar in another way, hazier and harder to pinpoint. The _eyes_ , though… he knew he’d seen them somewhere before. The glowing eyes, the orange skin…

Shock jolted through Batman’s system as his memory kicked in. Without another word, he engaged his radio. “Batman to Nightwing. We have a situation.”


	2. The father

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm posting another chapter because I'm impatient. Normally, my goal is a chapter a week, at least. But I already had this one written up, so why not? It's short, but don't worry. I'm not actually going to waste that much time keeping the mystery mysterious. I'm more interested in what happens afterward.

   Dick stirred from his deep thoughts and blinked, casting sleepy eyes around the room. He had become intimately familiar with Arkham Asylum’s hospital equipment in the year he’d been visiting. With a sad sigh, he turned focus onto the metal-framed bed he sat beside, and onto the woman who lay motionless atop it.

Koriand’r’s voluminous hair fanned out across the pillow, like a bright red halo around her expressionless face. Her eyes gleamed, yet stared at nothing as she lay on the grey hospital bed, covered in a thin sheet. Her hands were bound by inhibitor bracelets and chained to the metal bed frame, but they wouldn’t matter while she remained unconscious. Without thinking, Dick took her soft hand in his as he observed her, as he had done so often in the year since Kory had become catatonic.

“It’s nice being back in Gotham.” he said. The quiet of the hospital, broken only by the beeping of machines monitoring Kory's vitals, always made him nervous, so he filled the room with noise himself. “I know you hate this city, and I know you’d leave in a heartbeat if you could…” Dick swallowed hard. “But I love it. I can’t help it, I grew up here. Gotham will always be my home.”

He squeezed her hand gently. “I wish you could leave, Kory. I wish you would leave like I know you want to. I wish you could wake up… I wish I knew why…”

A knock on the glass window startled Dick, and he looked up to see Barbara peering through the glass sadly. He smiled and waved, and she smiled back before stepping away from the window to wait. Dick turned back to Kory for a moment.

“I think I’ll come back tomorrow too, Kory.” he said, stroking her forehead. “I’m going to leave Gotham soon, so I won’t get a chance to visit for a while. But I’ll be back, and when I am… I hope you’ll be ready to talk to me.” he brushed his lips along the back of her fingers, then dropped her hand and left the room.

Babs stood up from the wall she’d been leaning against and approached Dick immediately. Dick suppressed his surprise to see her. Though she’d expressed concern for Kory as all her old friends did, she had avoided visiting, and due to her busy schedule, she and Dick hadn’t gotten a chance for a good conversation in a very long time. “No change?” she inquired in a low voice.

“None.” Dick replied quietly, running a hand through his messy hair. “That ‘breakthrough’ the doctors claimed to have last week was a total bust. Truth is, we can’t do anything for her. Nobody knows what happened to her, so nobody can come up with any kind of treatment for her.”

Babs took Dick’s hand and they walked together through the halls of Arkham Asylum. “You have a theory, though.” she stated, and Dick gave her hand a squeeze.

“Tamaranians feel the full spectrum of emotions more deeply than any race I’ve ever met.” he said. “If she felt some kind of trauma deeply enough-”

“You think her mind could simply shut down.” Babs finished, frowning. “But the doctors have tried that angle, haven’t they?”

“Of course. But there’s no way they can force her to wake up, and without knowing exactly what traumatized her so much, they can’t do much.” Dick shrugged.

They emerged in the central hub of Arkham Asylum. Babs tried to move toward the exit, but Dick suddenly stopped moving, jerking her backward. She turned to see him staring down the hallway leading to the inmate’s cells with a determined expression.

“Oh no, Dick.” she groaned, tugging on his forearm fruitlessly. “Don’t. You’ve already tried. Don’t bother.”

Stoically ignoring her, Dick flagged down a doctor. Firmly, he said, “I’d like to see Jason Todd, please.”

 

   “Grayson? Feeling a fit of brotherly affection, are you?”

“You’ve been working out.” Dick observed. Jason’s muscles seemed sharper than the last time Dick had seem him behind that protective glass, bulging from beneath his inmate’s uniform.

Jason smirked and pushed his chair up onto its two back legs as he balanced against the sheet of glass separating them. “I’ve been a good boy, doing push-ups until I pass out.” he said, a laugh hidden in his voice. “They don’t complain, since they don’t have to sedate me just to get near me.”

“Damian’s been asking about you.” Dick said, and cracked a smile when Jason treated him to an incredulous look. “Ok, he hasn’t. But he’s been on a special mission lately, looking for a girl he found in an alley last week.”

“A girl?” Jason said disdainfully. “The little monster found a girl? Someone should probably warn her.”

“Oh, shut up.” Dick snapped, then sighed. “Damian’s been great lately. It’s really good to see him this… I dunno, selfless. Heroic.” he brought up the picture of the girl on his phone and looked at it thoughtfully. “Though, now that you mention it… she does look about his age…”

“Let me see.” Jason demanded with a grin. Dick held up his phone to the glass.

The moment he laid eyes on the picture, an immediate change came over Jason. The disinterested facade melted, and a frightening darkness took its place. As he stared at the girl, his expression twisted, first from something shocked to something dangerously furious.

“She’s alive.” he whispered, so quietly that Dick barely heard it. Dick leaned forward, about to question him, but Jason shocked him by suddenly lashing out and punching the glass.

“Jason!” Dick cried, jumping backward. Jason punched the glass again and again and again. He punched the glass so hard that it bent under his first, then again, hard enough that it began to crack. With one more punch, blood splattered the glass as shards from the other side of the two-paned window broke and stabbed Jason’s knuckles.

Two guards burst into the room and grabbed Jason by the arms, but he lunged forward against their hold, half mindless with rage. “I’ll kill him!” he screamed. “I’ll kill that sick sonuvabitch! I’ll kill him!”

One of the guards jammed a needle in Jason’s neck. His thrashing ceased. He fell silently into unconsciousness, and the guards dragged him from the room without a second look at Dick.

Dick sat still for a long moment, breathing hard and trying to process what he’d just seen. Before he could, the radio in his ear buzzed, scaring him so badly he jumped out of his chair.

_“Batman to Nightwing. We have a situation.”_

 

   Decked out in full Nightwing costume, Dick arrived at the east-side safehouse ten minutes later on his motorcycle. The ride hadn’t calmed his nerves at all, and the fact that he was called to one of Batman’s many hidey-holes rather than a crime scene made him even more nervous. Batman didn’t call for help unless something was too serious, and after what he just witnessed, Dick wasn’t certain he could handle more seriousness.

He met his pseudo-father in the underground bunker and found the Batman with his hands folded behind his back, towering in the middle of the cavernous room and looking oddly grave. Another spike of nervousness shot through Dick’s body.

“Damian found the girl.” Bruce said without preamble.

“And there’s some problem with her?” Dick questioned, feeling slightly proud that he kept the tremor out of his voice. He could not, however, loosen his tense muscles.

“She’s…” Bruce trailed off and stared intently at Dick. “What’s wrong, Dick? You seem bothered.”

“It’s, um…” Dick cleared his throat. “It’s nothing. I just saw Jason, that’s all.” Bruce’s confusion cleared, replaced with a tinge of sadness. “Anyway, the girl?”

“She’s alien in origin.” Bruce continued. “I need you to confirm my suspicions.”

“And… what are your suspicions?” Dick asked. A slow feeling of cold dread that he couldn’t explain spread through his limbs.

“She seems Tamaranian. You have the most experience with the limited contact Earth has with Tamaranians-” - _Koriand’r_ , neither of them said- “and I would like your opinion on my conclusion.”

Dick swallowed, trying to push down the anxiety in his gut. “Fine. Where is she?”

“Downstairs, first guest bedroom.” Bruce nodded toward the heavy metal door on the other side of the room. “Damian is with her. She doesn’t seem to trust anyone else.”

Dick swallowed again, and in one mental wave, forced his body into a more relaxed and confident pose. Then, ignoring Bruce’s searching look, he pushed the armored door open and headed downstairs.

The girl sat atop the stark bed that took up part of the east wall, clothed in Damian's spare t-shirt and jeans, her knees drawn tightly to her chest. Damian had taken a chair from the computer against the west wall and positioned it in the center of the room so he could perch like a guard. He glared at Dick the moment he stepped into the room, but the girl wouldn’t meet his eye at all.

“Hi.” Dick said, sounding awkward in the silent room. Damian’s eyes narrowed. Mentally heaving a sigh, Dick walked carefully to the bed and gently took a seat on the edge. The girl’s eyes snapped to him, sharp and cautious. “I’m Nightwing, and I’m a friend of Batman and Robin. I’ve heard a lot about you.” he said to her, keeping his tone light. “What’s your name?”

“Mar'i.” she replied shortly.

“Mar'i, ok. Batman told me that you’re an alien, Mar'i.” she flinched a little, and Dick took note. “It’s all right, you’re among friends here, Mar'i. No one is gonna hurt you. I just wanted to know, where are you from?”

“Tamaran,” she said in a small voice, “but I’ve never been there.”

Dick’s heart jumped. “Why not?”

“I was born here. My mom’s from Tamaran, and she told me about it.”

“Where is your mom now?”

Mar'i’s eyes glowed brighter, and Dick noticed a tear rolling down her cheek. “I don’t know.” her voice warbled. “I haven’t seen her in so long. I miss her.”

Dick could feel his heart thumping through his chest. Feeling slightly numb, he pulled his phone from his belt and brought up his photo gallery. With a few swipes, he found the picture he was looking for and felt his stomach swoop. It was a picture of himself and Kory, back when they were together so many years ago. Simple picture, just a quick snapshot he took on a whim. He’d wrapped his arm around Kory's waist and took the picture himself with his phone. He smiled into the camera, looking relaxed and happy, but she smiled at him, looking so in love that his heart broke all over again. They had both grown up so much since, but every time he saw that picture, the mess of emotions he had with Kory- love, despair, joy, freedom, anger- flooded his whole body again.

He held his phone up to Mar'i and asked quietly, “Do you know this woman?”

The tears dried from Mar'i’s cheeks immediately, leaving soft wisps of steam. Her eyes widened, her body uncurled as she leaned forward, and her hair started to ignite with purple embers at the tips.

A look of anguished longing painted her face as she stared at the picture and cried, “Mommy!”


	3. The mystery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, here's the mystery chapter reveal! I'm so impatient. Sorry it's short. Also includes a battle that I am ACHING for in canon. Battle, team-up, make out... literally anything. I'll take anything. You'll know it when you see it. Enjoy!

   “I don’t get many visitors anymore, especially not the costumed variety.”

Nightwing grimaced. He’d been friends for many years with Roy Harper, and to see him behind the protective glass of the visiting room in the bright orange Blackgate inmate uniform was disappointing. Not unexpected, after everything Roy had survived through the years, but still disappointing.

“I need to talk to you about something important.” Nightwing said, keeping his voice low. Roy either didn’t notice or didn’t care.

“Sure, whatever. Want a coffee? The visiting room’s got the best coffee, and I’m gonna take advantage.” he said with a yawn. “It’s lukewarm instead of freezing. Practically a godsend.”

Dick scowled. “Stop it, Roy. I’m serious.”

“And I’m not?” At the look on Dick’s face, Roy chuckled. “Ok, I’m not. It’s a defense mechanism, and it’s worked pretty well so far. Sue me. Oh, wait, I’m already behind bars.”

“I need to know what happened that day.” Dick said seriously, and the grin melted from Roy’s mouth.

“I’ve told you all I’m gonna tell you.” Roy growled. Disappointing, but not unexpected. Dick still had his ace.

“Did it have anything to do with Mar'i?”

A quick, jerking inhalation of breath, and Dick knew he hit the mark. “Where did you hear that name?” Roy demanded.

“From the girl herself.” Dick said softly, and he held up his phone for the third time that day.

A myriad of expressions cascaded over Roy’s face. First, his mouth fell open in shock, then his jaw tightened in anger, but the longer he took in the image of the eleven-year-old girl in the picture, his deep, festering anguish made itself known.

“She’s alive.” he whispered. “That’s her. It’s really her. Mar'i.”

“What happened to her?” Dick pushed. Roy blanched and looked away, his trance broken. His jaw muscles clenched and unclenched, his breathing sped up, his eyes darted all over the room, and he wrung his hands in his lap.

Finally, under Dick’s watchful eyes, Roy took a deep breath and stilled his body, drawing his inner strength outward.

“Mar'i is Kory's daughter. I’m assuming you knew that already.” he said, eyeing the lack of surprise on Dick’s face. Dick nodded, and Roy continued, “I didn’t know about her until Jason and Kory took me back to the island and introduced me. Kory…” Roy’s eyes drifted away, looking into memories. “She’s the best mother I’ve ever met. No matter what she’s going through, she puts Mar'i before herself. Jason and I became Kory's backup, her second line of defense and Mar'i’s guardians. We took care of her like she was our own.”

“Can’t imagine what that must have done to her.” Dick muttered, and Roy glared at him.

“Ok, so we weren’t the best parents ever. But we love her, and we did our best to make sure she was safe and happy. What more could we do?” Roy snapped defensively.

“If you were so good at keeping her safe, how did she end up being saved by Robin?” Dick retorted, and Roy fell silent again, biting his lower lip in a snarl.

“... Black Mask.” he said finally with great effort. “He found out about her.”

“Go on.” Dick urged.

“Jason’s latest project was picking away at Black Mask’s syndicate. I don’t know how he did it, but he hacked our surveillance and saw Mar'i playing. So, while Jay and Kory were…” Roy quieted again, flinching with phantom pain. When he spoke again, his voice warbled and cracked. “While Jason and Kory were out, Black Mask sent his assassins to the island. I shouldn’t be alive right now.” _Story of my life,_ he left unsaid but both he and Dick understood. “I didn’t get killed, but I let Mar'i get kidnapped.” The disgust and hate dripping from every word left Dick feeling oddly helpless.

Roy took a deep, shuddering breath and continued, “Black Mask told us that we had to surrender ourselves to him in Gotham by sundown or he’d kill Mar'i. When Kory found out… I tried to stop her. I swear I tried. Jason and I both tried to talk her down, but she flew off. When we made it to Gotham in the ship, she was already…” he trailed off, but both Dick and Roy remembered the scene so vividly. Half of downtown Gotham burning, lighting the evening sky a smoky orange, and screaming peppering the explosions. Kory, a purple streak of fire in the sky, raining solar death down on anyone who came near her.

“Then the Justice League stepped in.” Dick recalled. He himself had tried to stop her too, but she turned on him, fury in her eyes and bloodlust in her heart. She would have incinerated him in a second if a blue blur hadn’t appeared a moment before and knocked her across three intersections. Superman took it upon himself to stop Kory's rampage, “Alien to alien,” he’d said. Their battle lit the upper atmosphere with bright flashes of light that were seen miles away. When they exchanged blows, Dick felt the sonic booms reverberate through his chest. When the sun had almost completely vanished below the horizon, Kory had fallen from the sky like a comet, bloody and broken. Superman, bruised and bleeding too, pinned her to the ground, ordering her to surrender. Even with all her strength sapped, she struggled against his hold, yelling Tamaranian curses at him and demanding he release her.

Dick remembered the last ray of sun melting away and the darkness of nighttime setting in. He remembered a gunshot firing nearby, startling everyone. He remembered Kory freezing in Superman’s grasp, her whole body rigid and paralyzed with shock. Then, she let out one heartbreaking scream, layered with agony, and she went limp.

Dick blinked furiously as his eyes warmed with tears. “It makes sense now.” he whispered. “Kory… Kory. She makes sense now.”

“How is she?” Roy asked in a low voice, and it sent an irrational spike of rage through Dick’s body.

“She hasn’t woken up once in a year.” he said resentfully. “Why didn’t you tell me about her daughter? She thought Mar'i died, and the shock to her system was so strong that she went catatonic. We could have saved her! If we’d known about Mar'i, we could have-”

“You wouldn’t have.” Roy interrupted angrily. “All evidence pointed to Black Mask killing her. I know, Jason and I went over it thoroughly.” Dick remembered that, too. He remembered the whole Bat family taking down Red Hood and Arsenal as they slaughtered the goons in Black Mask’s crime syndicate. At first, Batman assumed they did it while crusading against Black Mask and they found no evidence to contradict his assumption, but Dick always suspected the outburst of violence was unusual, even for the outlaws and especially in the context of Starfire’s breakdown.

“But she’s alive.” Dick reminded him, and Roy scowled.

“He must have fabricated the evidence we found, lead us on a trail… Goddammit!” Roy swore and pounded the glass in fury. “She’s been alive this whole time, and Black Mask had her. What the hell did he do to her?”

Without the heart to tell him the truth, Dick stayed silent. Instead, he asked the question that had been burning through him from the moment he heard Mar'i say “Mommy.”

“Who is Mar'i’s father?”

Roy fixed him with a calculating look, but never answered.


	4. The revelation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still a shorter chapter than I'd like, but I'm in the middle of finals and I have four papers to write in two weeks. So. I'll probably be scarce for a little while. Enjoy!

   “Absolutely not.”

Batman ground his teeth in frustration.

“She’ll be safer with the League.” he argued yet again, massaging his forehead and pacing the safehouse.

“She is my responsibility.” Damian explained calmly, standing stock-still against the closed door. “I failed to protect her once, but I will not allow any more failures. I will keep her safe myself.”

“How do you plan to do that? Take her home to the mansion?” Bruce snapped, then released a sigh when his son didn’t even flinch.

“I do not trust the League to treat her with the delicacy that she requires.” Damian said, crossing his arms. Bruce nearly snorted. Hearing his son worry about treating someone with delicacy would have been laughable when he first arrived in Gotham. “They have too many other responsibilities. She is no threat to me while we cannot remove the inhibitor collar.”

Bruce turned his back on his son, staring at the surveillance monitors that covered the walls of the safehouse. That wasn’t exactly the truth, but he wasn’t about to tell his son that. He knew how to break through the collar’s sensitive defense mechanisms, but he wouldn’t until he was completely sure that Mar’i wasn’t a threat. In the context of her mother’s history, he felt right in being cautious.

“You aren’t personally responsible for every person you save, Damian.” Bruce reminded him gently.

“But I am declaring myself responsible for this one.” Damian retorted stubbornly. “You and I both know she has no home for the League to return her to, considering her mother’s condition. She will be an orphan, and the League cannot take full guardianship of her. So what will become of her? Will she be yet another lab rat for S.T.A.R Labs? A foster child that no human parent can love? I won’t allow that.”

Bruce took a slow breath as he ran his fingers along the keys of his computers.

“We could find her father.”

Damian’s heart rate sped up, and he shifted his weight from one foot to the other in agitation. He looked to the ceiling and bit his lower lip as he grappled with the idea. After a long moment of silence, Damian let his head fall forward again and grunted, “Fine. But I will oversee the process and judge if the candidate is fit to take over her guardianship.”

Bruce didn’t reply. There was no need to, as he wasn’t able to deny his son this control he craved anyway.

 

   When Damian reentered the bunker’s bedroom, Mar’i was pacing circles around the center of the room. She flinched when the heavy door scraped against its hinges, and whirled around to face him.

“Where is my mom?” she demanded with a desperate edge, her fists clenched at her sides. “Why won’t you tell me anything about her? Where is Nightwing? Why does he have a picture of my mother? Where is she?!”

“Calm down.” Damian ordered, his feeble attempt at soothing. Mar’i glared at him. “When the time is right, we will enlighten you. For now, Batman would like your help.”

“With what?” she questioned suspiciously.

“He needs a cheek swab from you.” Damian replied, showing her the gauze-tipped stick.

“Why?”

“It will help us locate your father.”

At these words, Mar’i stopped her pacing and fidgeting. Her whole face lit with wonder and confusion, and her hair began to glow purple at the tips. “I have a father?” she repeated. Damian’s heart clenched at her tone of voice; half incredulous and half hopeful, mixing together in a blend of old pain kept hidden for years.

“Your mother never said anything about your father?” Damian asked. Mar’i shook her head.

“I asked, but she refused to tell me.” Mar’i let her eyes fall to the ground. “I guess I stopped asking because I was satisfied with my uncle Roy and uncle Jay.” At the mention of her uncles, she startled herself and refocused her sharp eyes on Damian. “Do you know my uncles? Where are they?”

“They aren’t available.” Damian said tartly, approaching Mar’i and holding the cheek swab like a tiny sword. “Now open up.”

“No.” Mar’i snapped, taking a step away from Damian. “What does that mean? Why are you looking for my father, anyway? I want my mom and my uncles.”

“They aren’t coming.” Damian said with surprising force, and Mar’i blanched. Damian regretted his words immediately.

“Why not?” Mar’i’s voice cracked, and her eyes began to shine brighter. Damian swore to himself; a tear rolled down her cheek. Of _course_ he would further traumatize the highly traumatized girl. Of _course_ he would. Slowly and gently, Damian reached out to Mar’i and wiped the tear away with his thumb.

“You’ve been through too much.” he said quietly. “I’ll take you to see your uncles and your mom, but I can’t do it tonight. You should rest tonight. Now let me take your cheek swab.”

Mar’i rubbed her damp eyes furiously for a second, taking a couple of deep breaths. Damian took a personal victory when she didn’t take a step back. Then, she met Damian’s eyes again and dutifully opened her mouth for the swab. He swiped the inside of her cheek and swept away from the girl as fast as he could. However, he paused at the top of the stairs and turned back to Mar’i, who seemed so small standing in the middle of the stark, empty steel bunker.

“Get some rest.” he said curtly, and slipped through the door.

 

   Batman’s focus snapped from the computer to his son the second he heard the heavy scrape of the door’s hinges. He watched the hunched form of his son, noting the tension in his shoulders. Damian hurried to the computer’s analyzing container, prepped for a saliva DNA sample, and supplied the swab in businesslike silence. Bruce ran the identification program, which began scanning his massive database. Father and son watched the program together in static silence.

“You’re using the Justice League’s database.” Damian observed.

“If she was born on Earth, it’s likely that her father is an Earth native.” Bruce said. “But the Justice League contains more files on extraterrestrials. If the father has ever been to Earth, the Justice League will have files on him, human or not.” Bruce continued to watch Damian rigidly focus on the program’s scanning out of the corner of his eye. “You’ve been tense since you found her.” He said finally.

“Do not try to have a heart-to-heart with me now, Father.” Damian replied acidly. “It does not suit us.”

“So that’s the problem.” Bruce mused, and Damian snorted. Having the world’s greatest detective for a father could really suck sometimes. One word, and he knew all your secrets. “You should speak with Dick. If anyone can understand the lure of Tamaranean women, it’s him.”

“I have no idea what you mean.” Damian said stiffly. Bruce cracked a smile and would have teased a little more, but both men were distracted by the program pinging.

“Match found.” The computer announced, and the matching profile appeared.

For a long time, neither Bruce nor Damian broke the ensuing silence. Both men simply stared at the screen, sharing a rare moment of stunned surprise.

“… I take it this means I can now bring her to the mansion for safekeeping.” Damian said thickly, unable to tear his eyes away from Dick Grayson’s profile on the computer.

 

   As the first rays of sunlight touched the grey sky, Dick Grayson pulled up to the Bat-bunker for the second time that night, feeling overwhelmed and exhausted. For the first time in weeks, he wanted nothing more than to curl up in bed and sleep for hours. Nothing to think about, nothing to despair over, nothing to trouble his dreams. Presenting his eye to the identification lock and pushing open the door to the bunker, Dick braced himself for whatever bad news he knew Batman would present him with.

Both Damian and Bruce met him in the bunker’s central hub. Bruce faced him with an oddly tense stare, and Damian wouldn’t meet his eye at all, preferring to stare at the screen with a scowl. Dick glanced uneasily between them and said, “What’s going on?”

“We ran Mar’i’s DNA through the Justice League database.” Bruce said. At Dick’s confused frown, he added impatiently, “To locate her father.” Dick winced; he thought of her mother's condition, and the reminder stung a little.

“And you found him?” Dick asked, trying to suppress his fear of the answer.

Bruce nodded toward the computer screen that Damian was so absorbed in, and Dick turned to see his own face staring back at him.

“… There’s got to be some mistake.” he said thickly. “I’m not a genealogist, but this can’t be possible. We’re… we’re two different species. She’s from the Vega system. How…?”

“I don’t know.” Bruce said, sounding tired. “I’ll run the scan again, but my system is the most powerful in the world. If this is what it says, then it’s correct. The question we’re left with is how?”

“And why.” Damian added quietly.

“I… I need to go.” Dick said, hardly hearing his own voice. Maybe Bruce and Damian said something in reply, but he couldn’t hear them. His body moved itself out of the bunker, onto his bike, and drove itself all the way back to his apartment without his conscious thought.

As Dick collapsed into bed, he swore he would sleep dreamlessly for at least a week straight. Maybe when he woke up, his life would make sense again.


	5. The questions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NOTE: I AM OFFICIALLY CHANGING THE TIMELINE OF THIS STORY. Here's what I'm going with now: Dick and Kori were together from ages 16 to 18. They were almost married, like the comics. So Kori had Mar'i at 19. Fast forward, she and Dick are around 34, and Mar'i is only missing for a year when Damian finds her. There. That is my story and I'm sticking to it... probably. That being said, I'm just wasting time until my semester is over. One more week!

   The man standing in Black Mask's office was generally considered to be a powerful man. He wore pressed, tailored white suits, he carried a concealed pistol that he took great pride in showing off, and he tossed money around with a careless swagger that reeked of wealth. Today, however, the man cowered before the mob boss that granted him his fortune. 

“You lost the girl.” Black Mask repeated incredulously. 

“Y-Y-Yesss… sir.” The man stuttered, wringing his hands.

“You lost the girl.” Black Mask said again, running his fingertips over the lacquered oak desk in the middle of his impressively large office.

“Th-The Batman, sir, he-“

“You swore to me,” Black Mask interrupted, “that the operation was safe from Batman. You swore to me that you supplied the operation with your finest soldiers, equipped with the best machinery, to put down the Bat if he showed his ugly mug around the place.”

“I d-did-"

“You did.” Black Mask gestured toward the guest chair in front of his desk. “Sit down.”

Trembling uncontrollably, the man did as he said.

“Now, you’ve been loyal to me for a long time.” Black Mask said, walking casually in circles around the chair. “So long… how long has it been again?”

“T-Ten years, sir.” 

“Yeeeees, that’s it. Ten years.” Black Mask paused for a moment, trying to recall the underling’s name and coming up blank. Mentally shrugging, he stopped pacing behind the man and gripped his shoulder. “You’ve been good to me. You advised me not to kill the alien, told me to hand her over to my kiddie prostitution operation instead. She’ll be a great asset, you said, every guy has wanted to fuck an alien at some point.” His hand squeezed once and began to creep down the man’s chest. “You were right! She brought in millions over the year. You did me a good service there.”

The man smiled with pride despite his terror, and Black Mask returned the grin. “Because you’ve been so good to me,” he said smoothly, “I’ll let your family live."

In one swift movement, Black Mask snatched the gun hidden against the man’s side and shot him in the head. The guards flanking the door didn’t even twitch, and Black Mask turned his acid glare on them.

“No more failures.” He growled. “Get my alien back. Kill the Batman, kill the kid Robin, kill whoever you have to. Just get my profit back.”

 

   When Dick awoke, he found he had slept almost thirteen hours, yet he felt like he rested for zero of those hours. Groaning to himself, he rolled over in bed and stared at the ceiling, his mind racing.

He couldn’t have a daughter. It wasn’t possible. He and Kori… admittedly, they hadn’t been together for years, but an eleven-year-old? It just wasn’t possible. How could she have hidden a daughter for so long? And HIS daughter, to boot. It couldn’t be possible. They were completely different species. From star systems light-years away from each other. She was descended from space cats, for god’s sake! Dick moaned deep in his throat, running a fretful hand through his hair. He couldn’t imagine how they could be genetically compatible in the least bit. There had to be some mistake, there just had to be. 

Lethargically, Dick pulled himself out of bed and found himself hovering on the edge of his bed, unable to summon the strength to stand up. He sat frozen in his thoughts for a very long minute, until he spotted his cellphone on his bedside table.

After a moment of hesitation, he picked his cell up and dialed his most-used number.

“Hey Barbara, it’s Dick. Want to patrol with me tonight?”

 

Bruce scowled at the cup of tea placed on the coffee table before him. It was served in a homey little mug, a yellow one with a cocky cartoon Superman painted on the side. Bruce treated his host to a raised eyebrow.

“Diana has a sense of humor.” Clark said with a shrug, cupping his own plain mug of tea. “It’s my only clean one at the moment. Haven’t had much time to clean, and frankly, I wasn’t expecting visitors. Especially not Bruce Wayne.”

“I have a question for you.” Bruce said, and Clark frowned in confusion as he sat down gently on the worn sofa across from him.

“And you couldn’t have asked me in a meeting?” he questioned.

“No. This is a… sensitive matter.”

Clark smiled, intrigued. “Bruce trusting me with a sensitive matter? Color me shocked.”

“I mean it.” Bruce said seriously. “You are the only one I trust with this information right now.”

The smile slid from Clark’s face, and he refocused on Bruce gravely. “I’m listening.”

“This concerns the Tamaranian girl you fought last year.”

“Starfire?” Clark said, brows furrowing. “What’s going on? Is she waking up?”

“No.” Bruce leaned forward, resting his forearms on his thighs. “Rather, we found the cause of her comatose state.”

“What does this have to do with me?” Clark said sharply. “I’m… I’m not the cause, am I?”

“No, you aren’t.” Now Bruce paused, grappling with the right words. “Clark… have you ever thought about having children?”

Clark blinked rapidly with surprise. “Why would you ask me that?” he pushed suspiciously.

“Just answer the damn question.” Bruce snapped. Clark shrugged and took a sip of his tea.

“Of course I’ve thought about it, but it’s not like I can, right?” A ghost of a smile passed over his face, dry and joyless. “I’d need another Kryptonian, and there are none left I can have children with. My race was doomed before I was ever born.”

“What if there was a way for you to have children with a human woman? What would you do?”

Clark blanched and gripped his mug hard enough to reduce it to dust. Wiping the dust from his hands, he said nervously, “What are you talking about, Bruce? What’s gotten into you?”

“Hypothetically, Clark.” Bruce said, eyeing the remains of the mug. “What if I told you that a child between an alien and a human was possible?” 

“I’d say you finally lost it.” Clark said dryly. At Bruce’s dark expression, Clark’s mouth fell open in shock. “You can’t be serious. A child? Starfire had a child? With who?” 

“According to my data, with Dick.” Bruce said tightly. “He had no idea she existed until yesterday. The girl was kidnapped by Black Mask, and the shock was so strong that Koriand’r became catatonic.”

“You cannot be serious.” Clark repeated, looking dumbstruck. “How is that genetically possible? Such a child shouldn’t be viable.”

“I was hoping you would have the answer for me.” Bruce muttered uncomfortably. 

“What, because I’m an alien?” Clark replied, irritated. “I accepted a long time ago that can’t have a normal family because of my race, Bruce. Why are you dredging that up? Why are you looking to me for answers about a girl I barely know?” 

“I don’t know!” Bruce exploded, catching Clark’s attention. “I don’t know why I thought you could help me! I don’t know why I’m here! All I know is that I’m in alien territory, literally speaking, with which I have no knowledge or expertise. I deal with muggers and psychos, not extraterrestrial soap operas. I needed to confide in someone I trust, and I thought that could be you. Clearly, I misjudged. I’ll leave you alone.”

He slammed the Superman mug down on the coffee table, cracking it at the rim, and would have stormed off, had Clark not caught his arm.

“Ok, Bruce, I’m sorry I snapped at you.” Clark said apologetically. “I was just thrown off-guard, that’s all. I can help you, just give me time to meet a friend of mine.” 

Bruce glared down the man of steel. “You’ll be discreet?” he asked flatly, and Clark nodded. “Good. Call me when you have the information.” Then he jerked the hand off his arm and swept out of the apartment.

 

   “Ok, I’m sick of trying to guess what you’re thinking. Even with the mask I know something’s up. What’s going on, Dick?”

Dick couldn’t bring himself to look at Batgirl. Instead, he focused on scanning the busy street below him with the computerized binoculars embedded in his mask, searching for signs of distress. At first, he thought talking out his problems with logical Barbara would cleanse his turbulent emotions, but when confronted with Barbara’s calculating stare, he became mute, paralyzed by uncertainty.

Over his shoulder, Barbara huffed impatiently. “I know you want to talk about something, Dick.” she said. “Out with it already.”

“I’ve been having a rough day.” Dick said vaguely, watching the street more carefully. He found himself actually hoping for a robbery, a mugger, a gang incident… even just some street harassment. Nothing.

“In what way?” Barbara pushed. 

“I just discovered my alien ex-girlfriend hid my genetically impossible daughter from me for eleven years, ok?” Dick snapped, and immediately a chill spread through his blood. Now that he heard himself saying it out loud, it felt… true.

Silence from behind him. Then, a disbelieving voice saying, “That’s not possible.” 

“I know!” Dick snapped, frustrated. “I know it isn’t possible! But we’ve got a scared kid’s genetic analysis saying otherwise.” 

“Dick…” He felt a gentle hand rest on his shoulder. “It’s all right.”

“No, it’s not.” Dick said, feeling the words bubble up from a dark place inside his chest. “They’re saying this girl’s mine, but all I see is a traumatized kid who’s missing her mom. What am I supposed to do with her? I can’t wake Kory up, but I can’t be her dad. I can’t be! If I’m really her dad, then I should have been there for her. I’ve abandoned her for eleven years and everything Black Mask did to her is my fault!”

“Dick, look at me.” Barbara commanded. Feeling dizzy, Dick turned to face her, and she cupped his face in her hands, staring with determination into his eyes behind the mask. “Breathe slowly, Dick. You’re hyperventilating.” Like magic, the sound of her voice slowed his breathing down and his head began to clear. “Listen to me, Dick.” Barbara continued softly, stroking his cheeks with her thumbs. “You aren’t at fault here. You can’t blame yourself for a decision Kory made on her own.”

“I just… should have been there for her.” Dick repeated helplessly.

“Why?” Barbara asked.

Dick took a long moment to look inside himself and to sift through the whirlwind of emotions that were consuming him. Finally, he whispered, “Parents should be there for their kids.”

“And there it is.” Barbara sighed, taking a step back. “No one is asking you to bear the burden of parenthood right away, Dick, especially not for a girl you just met yesterday. You’re putting too much pressure on yourself.”

“So what do you think I should do?” Dick asked, crossing his arms. Barbara sighed again and stared out at the city skyline contemplatively.

“I think,” she said carefully, “That you should get to know her first. Make your decision based on the real girl, not based on your complexes. A relationship with someone isn’t all-or-nothing, Dick. Ease yourself into her life, and then decide how much you want to be involved.”

"When did you get so wise?" Dick teased, feeling weak. Barbara smirked and punched his arm.


	6. The home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I CHANGED THE TIMELINE AGAIN. Yes, I know. I'm sorry! I just hate timelines and I'm terrible at working them out. So, for now, Dami and Mar'i are eleven, making Dick and Kori....... oh I don't know. Let's say 28 or 29. Bruce is in his thirties probably. Who cares.
> 
> Ok, it's not a great chapter, but it's something. Also, if anybody ever wants to bug me about chapters, 1. I love you, and 2. you can do so more effectively by bugging me on tumblr. My tumblr is kori-super-star.tumblr. You should hang out with me.

The next evening, the Batmobile pulled up to Dick’s apartment building, just like they planned. Mar’i, in the passenger’s seat, eyed the stony building with trepidation, trying in vain to find a measure of comfort in it. Batman, in the driver’s seat, spared her not even a glance.

A muscular, dark-haired man in a casual white t-shirt emerged from the building and approached the Batmobile. Batman released the doors and stepped out to meet him, but Mar’i stayed firmly in her seat.

“Batman.” The man said, giving him an awkward nod. “Thank you for… notifying me of this situation.”

“We’re leaving her in your care.” Batman returned the nod, and both men looked to Mar’i curled up in the passenger’s seat.

“Hi, Mar’i.” the man greeted, forcing a cheery smile. “I’m… I’m your dad. My name is Dick Grayson. I’ll be taking care of you from now on.”

“Until my mom finds me.” Mar’i amended. The smile slid from Dick’s face like hot butter.

“You’ll be safe here, Mar’i.” Batman interjected, all business as he strode to Mar’i’s side and unfastened her seatbelt. Then, he stood aside to let her out of the Batmobile. Anxiety overwhelmed her for a moment, and in that moment, Mar’i couldn’t find the strength to move under the beams of the two men’s eyes.

She took a deep breath to gather the rest of the courage she stored and used it to look into Batman’s cowl and say, “Please tell Robin… Thank him for me, please.”

Neither Batman nor her father said anything in response. Mar’i slipped out of the Batmobile and trudged slowly toward her new home, feeling exhausted and depressed. In silence, her father followed behind her, and the Batman watched them until they disappeared into the building.

 

The inside of her fa- of Dick Grayson’s apartment surprised Mar’i. She found it to be oddly spartan, lacking anything really homey. He didn’t own much, and what he did own, Mar’i noted, was hardly used. The whole apartment was painted the standard white, and even the faded carpets matched the boring white walls, no decorations or personal touches. A place to sleep, she thought, but not to live. Not really, anyway. Even her mother forged a home for the two of them on the island she grew up on with the few items she kept in her little Tamaranian ship. Dick, however, didn’t seem to mind sleeping somewhere and living nowhere.

“I set up a room for you.” Dick said awkwardly, gesturing down the hallway toward the two bedrooms of his apartment. Mar’i faced him, back straight but exhaustion written in the lines of her face.

“How do you know my mommy?” she questioned. “Where is my mommy? Does she know where I am? And if you’re really my dad, where have you been? Why didn’t you come for me?”

Dick stared down at the little girl in the doorway of his apartment, glowing green eyes blinking at him with such pain, and his heart ached so fiercely that he felt it all through his chest. “I… I’m… I don’t have an answer for you.” he said helplessly. “Please trust me. I can’t tell you where your mother is. Not now.”

Mar’i took a slow breath, blinking away tears fighting to escape from behind her eyes, and she edged around Dick to get into the apartment. Timidly, she inched into the hallway to investigate without noticing her father standing in the middle of the bare living room, watching her. The first room she found was clearly Dick’s room, as it contained a larger bed with the necessities of an adult man. She closed the door in a hurry and bolted into the other room, slamming the door behind her.

For a moment, she stood against the closed door, listening to the soft footsteps padding against the carpet. “Mar’i?” Dick called through the door. “Are you ok?”

“I’m fine.” Mar’i replied softly. “I want to be alone right now.”

Silence from the other side of the door. Then, “I’ll make some dinner.” Then the footsteps padded away from the door and left her alone.

Breathing heard around the lump in her throat, Mar’i fell atop the guest bed made up for her and simply let the tears fall. She couldn’t muster the energy to sob, or even to climb into bed properly. She simply laid above the covers, taking deep breaths and silently crying.

She let herself drift in and out of the moment just before sleeping, where time slithered by unnoticed, until a knock on the door startled her.

“Mar’i?” Dick’s voice said through the door. “Are you in there? I have dinner for you.”

Mar’i didn’t say anything. Dick knocked again and received no reply again. After a moment, Mar’i heard the sound of his footsteps leaving, and she sighed to herself. Releasing the tension in her muscles, Mar’i nearly fell asleep again, but the footsteps outside returning alerted her back to wakefulness. She listened very carefully for the expected knock, but the knock never came. Instead, she heard something being placed on the carpet, then the footsteps leaving again.

Curiously, Mar’i crept toward the door and opened it an inch. She peeked through, and she found a plate of spaghetti with tomato sauce sitting innocently outside. Casting a quick glance around, Mar’i pulled the bowl in and pushed the door shut again.

In the living room, Dick sat silently on the couch, listening to the noises from down the hall. When the door shut again, he sighed to himself, feeling drained. He let his head fall back onto the couch and stared up at the ceiling.

 _At least she’s eating_ , he thought, his own plate untouched.

 

When Mar'i set the empty plate down on the floor by her bed, she glanced at the blinking digital clock on the bedside table and found it to be 9 in the evening. She drew her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, as she had developed a habit of doing when she was alone in the past year. She felt safer, more contained and less vulnerable in that position.

Wedged against the fluffy pillows on her new bed, she brought one hand up to finger the cold metal collar around her neck. She grew used to doing this as well, over the year she had been wearing it. She hadn't thought she used her powers that much before, but once she was deprived of them, she realized just how great the extent of her powers was. With the connection to her inner Tamaranian fire forcefully severed, she felt cold and weak all the time.

Just as she began to resign herself to a restless night, a soft tap on the window scared her out of her thoughts. She whirled around to face the window, only to be met with a shadowy young Robin hanging by a grappling hook wire from the side of the building, tapping on her window. A sweeping mix of shock, nervousness and excitement flooded her body, and she crept over to open the window.

“What are you doing?” she demanded in a low voice. “This apartment is on the twelfth story!”

“Yes, it's a good vantage point.” Robin muttered, sparing a look at the sparkling city below him before focusing on Mar'i. “I wanted to know how you're settling in.”

Awkwardly, Mar'i waved to the room behind her. “I've got a room.” she said, sounding helplessly confused. Robin frowned.

“Yes, I can see that.” he said, puzzled.

“I've never...” Mar'i swallowed, trying to arrange the difficult words in her head. “I've never really... had... a room. A bed. With my mom, I had a whole island, and we'd always sleep out under the stars together. But this isn't an island, and this isn't... my mom.” The words caught in her throat, tight as she forced down tears again. “My mom.” she whispered, feeling the word sting her tongue. “I miss my mom.”

Robin observed her in silence, searching for the right words but unable to find them. In lieu of speaking, he gently touched her shoulder, hovering cautiously but still trying for comfort. She wiped the tears from her cheeks and gave him a shaky smile.

“I wanted to thank you.” she said. “For saving me.”

Robin nodded, and let the moment stretch between them.

“I'll check on you again.” he whispered. She took a breath, and in the space of that breath, he engaged his grappling hook and shot up to the roof of the apartment complex, and he was off to begin his patrol.

Mar'i sat down on the floor, staring out the open window. She stared into the downtown skyline until her eyes blurred, and the glittering lights became a field of melting stars against the night sky. She imagined Robin soaring through that starry sky, light and graceful, and she felt a small ember ignite in her core.


	7. The truth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NOTE: I AM CHANGING THE TIMELINE AGAIN. Sorry, I'm sorry, I really am. I'm just the worst at timelines. The worst. Worst. Ok, so Damian and Mar'i are eleven. There will be a time skip at some point probably. Oh my god where am I going where is this who are you what is going on Jesus take the keyboard.
> 
> Exhaustion is difficult to fight. In any case, I hope you like this chapter.

   “That one is Orthax… Home of the Borlians… And that one over there is Polaris, home of the Thanagarians…”

“Like Hawkgirl!” Mar’i squealed. Kory smiled indulgently, shifting the child on her chest to a more comfortable position.

“Yes, Hawkgirl of the Justice League is Thanagarian. Good girl.” Kory said, planting a kiss on Mar’i’s forehead. The little girl squeaked and giggled.

“Show me Tamaran! Show me Tamaran!” Mar’i demanded.

“I have shown you Tamaran’s position in the night sky so much, Starshine. Perhaps you should show Tamaran to me?” Kory teased.

“Ok!” Mar’i laughed and scrambled off her mother’s chest. Kory sat up from where she had been laying on the cool sand to watch her daughter with interest. Mar’i rooted herself firmly in the sand, gazing at the black sky drenched in starlight to find the star of her mother’s home. Her eyes drifted over every one, trying to pick the individual stars from the bleeding light.

“There!” Mar’i cried suddenly, pointing to the sky. “There! There it is!”

Kory just watched her daughter, the most gentle smile gracing her face.

“Yes, Starshine. That’s Tamaran.” she said softly without looking up.

Mar’i stared into the little pinprick of light, contemplating. Trying to imagine the distant planet, her mother’s childhood...

“Do you ever miss it?” she whispered.

“Sometimes.” Kory's melodic voice floated through the night air. “But I have everything I have ever wanted here on Earth. I have you, Mar’i. _I want for nothing else.”_

Mar’i drifted into consciousness slowly, the sound of her mother’s voice echoing through her mind. She could still feel the fine sand against her skin and the humid island air in her lungs as clearly as she could feel the unfamiliar cotton sheets and smell fresh coffee wafting in from the kitchen. She laid still for a long moment, letting the tears roll down her cheeks until they dried off. Then, she wiped her salty face and crawled out of bed.

Dick glanced up from the plate he was piling pancakes onto when Mar’i emerged from her bedroom, then looked right back down.

“Morning, Mar’i!” said Dick, chipper. “Sit down, I’m making breakfast. I’m not the best cook, but I figured it’s a special occasion, so I can put in the effort today.” He gestured to his meager kitchen table, loaded up with pancakes, waffles, syrup, apple sauce, whipped cream, and all manner of  fruits. Mar’i took her seat silently, avoiding Dick’s eye, which turned out to be pretty easy, since Dick was doing the same.

“I’ve got milk or orange juice. Do you want some?” Dick continued, tipping the rest of the pancakes onto the table and dumping the empty plate in the sink.

“Juice.” Mar’i said, inching timidly into a seat at the table. Dick watched her surreptitiously from the corner of his eye as he poured the juice for her.

Together, father and daughter ate breakfast in awkward silence. Dick only realized after his second helping of pancakes absolutely drenched with syrup (necessary to survive Alfred’s pancakes and now a habit) that Mar’i only nibbled at her breakfast, and hadn’t even touched any of the condiments and extra food Dick spent all morning prepared for her. Eyeing her hunched shoulders, Dick casually pushed the apple sauce toward her.

“Try some, Mar’i.” he said with an encouraging smile. “I think you’ll like it.”

With a cautious look at Dick, she pulled the apple sauce over and scooped a tiny spoonful onto her plate. Dick’s spirit fell hard.

“Do you like maple syrup, Mar’i?” he continued cheerfully.

“I’ve never had any.” Mar’i admitted, staring at her plate.

“Oh, why don’t you try some?” Dick grinned and poured a little into a spoon for her. “You’ll love it, I promise. It’s the best stuff in the world.”

Mar’i eyed the spoon suspiciously, but she took it from Dick anyway and licked the syrup in it. Dick watched with glee as her eyes grew huge and round, glowing bright green. “It’s sweet!” she exclaimed, seeming startled by her own voice. Unable to stop himself, Dick burst out laughing, surprising Mar’i even further.

“Go on, Mar’i.” Dick said when his laughter died down, pushing all the food on the table toward her. “Try everything. Take everything. This home is yours now, so you can have anything here that you want.”

Mar’i’s glowing eyes flicked between Dick and the food for a precious few seconds, then she grabbed at all the food in a flurry and really dug in, surprising Dick at the voracity of her appetite. She even poured the syrup directly into her mouth from the bottle, and Dick found himself stifling giggles.

He contented himself to watching her eat for a time, drifting into thought.

“You need clothes.” he said aloud without meaning to, snapping Mar’i’s attention to him again.

“Clothes? Like, human clothes?” Mar’i questioned.

“Yeah. You can’t keep wearing the same shirt.” Dick said conversationally. Mar’i clutched at the shirt she wore, the shirt Robin had given her. It still smelled like him, and smells were strong to her. It smelled like protection and safety to her mind. “I don’t mind buying you some. Want to come shopping with me today?”

Mar’i shook her head strongly, clutching her shirt a little harder. “I’d rather stay here for now.”

Dick’s smile slid away. _There goes that moment_ , he thought, heaving a mental sigh. “Ok, don’t worry about it.” he said, forcing a smile again. “I’ll go buy you some clothes. Do you want me to call someone to stay with you?” Mar’i shook her head again, and Dick sighed as he stood up. “All right. Just stay here and you should be fine. There’s some food in the cabinets if you get hungry, and I have a list of numbers by the phone you can call if you get in trouble, ok? I’ll be back soon.”

Mar’i nodded this time, watching him with her luminescent eyes all through his preparations to go all, until he finally closed the door behind him.

Dick stopped a moment to lean against the closed door of his apartment, focusing on taking a few deep breaths. Then he pulled out his cell phone and speed-dialed “home.”

“Alfred? I’m leaving Mar’i alone at my apartment for a while. Can you keep an eye on her, please? Oh, as if Bruce didn’t bug my apartment the moment I moved in. Don’t worry about it. Just… make sure she stays safe, please? Thank you.”

As the line disconnected, Damian sat up in bed. Normally, hacking Bruce’s comm systems wouldn’t interest Damian (anymore), but Bruce became extra crabby whenever he brought up Mar’i, so Damian couldn’t bother trying to wheedle any information directly from him anymore. Gritting his teeth, Robin pulled his mask out and swept out of the room.

 

   The knock on the window frightened Mar’i so much she instinctively squeaked and dodged under the table. The glow in her hair extinguished, and her eyes dulled to the softest glow as she clutched the shirt and made herself as small as possible.

She listened to a few scratches on the window. Then, a mechanical clicking, and the scrape of the window opening, and she lost all her breath.

“Mar’i?” the rough tone of Robin floated quietly through the apartment, and Mar’i gasped aloud with relief.

“Robin!” she cried, scrambling out from under the table to face Robin, scowling as he shut the window behind him. “I thought- I thought you- could’ve been anyone…”

“Grayson should not have left you alone.” Robin said disapprovingly. “You are still in danger while you bear that collar, and Black Mask is still at large.”

A shudder ran down Mar’i’s spine. “Can you take it off?” she whispered, one finger unconsciously tracing the edge of the collar around her throat. Behind his mask, Robin looked truly regretful.

“I wish I could.” he replied somberly, and Mar’i let her hand fall to her side. Robin’s eyes followed it. With a slow and deliberate movement, he took her hand with his. Mar’i inhaled sharply, her eyes and hair suddenly burning brightly.

“What are you doing?” she asked, perplexed.

“I am your protection while Grayson is away.” Robin said firmly. “You will not leave my sight today.”

Blushing and heart pounding, Mar’i allowed Robin to pull her gently toward the couch. He maneuvered her into a seat, sat on the couch beside her, and turned on the TV before them.

“Television? Really?” Mar’i said, bemused.

“It can be relaxing.” Robin said in a tone dangerously close to a grumble.

Mar’i let herself slip into a smile. The TV’s warm glow did feel comforting to her, but the real flame in her core burned only because of the boy beside her.

 

   “Superman, it’s good to see you again.”

Superman shook hands with the majestic woman before him, a genuine smile playing across his mouth. Very few people could retain their majesty while sporting a full head of magenta hair, but Dr. Shay Veritas, scientific genius, could maintain a dignified posture under any pressure. She had much practice, since her lab was located next to the core of the Earth, where pressure was approximately 350 gigapascals. She was one of the very few human beings on Earth he trusted with his secret identity, and the only one he trusted to test the limits of his abilities.

“Do you have what I asked for?” Superman said, straight to the point. Dr. Veritas grimaced.

“I’ve done my best, but my best can still amount to very little with what you’ve given me to work with.” she said, bringing him to her research console. “Offspring between two species occurs all the time on Earth, but there’s been no recorded evidence of such a union with a non-Earth species ever occurring. Theoretically, it’s possible, but without knowing the specifications of the parents, I can’t give you any specific information. Believe me, I tried, but the possibilities are endless… All I can tell you is that it’s possible.”

Superman stared into the monitor, contemplative, aware of Dr. Veritas’s watchful eyes on him. Finally, he reached a decision, and he accessed the Justice League’s files on Dr. Veritas’s system. With a couple of commands, he pulled up a profile.

“Starfire?” Dr. Veritas said questioningly, squinting at the picture of the Tamaranian woman. “I’ve heard of her. Isn’t she the one…”

“Who blew up half of downtown Gotham a year ago, yes.” Superman finished.

“No, not that…” Dr. Veritas said, half to herself, her face scrunching in concentration. “I know that name… there’s been intergalactic chatter that includes that name…” she pushed Superman from the console and began to type, searching through her records.

“Yes, yes!” she cried triumphantly when she found the story she needed. “I remember! It was a Gordanian slave ship!”

Superman winced. Even Earth heroes had heard tales of the slaver race of the Vega system. They were one of the most brutal species to inhabit known space.

“It was the only slave ship to ever escape enslavement.” Dr. Veritas continued. “It was commandeered by the slaves aboard and patrolled Vega space for years, attacking slaver vessels and generally wreaking havoc throughout the stars. If I recall correctly, the uprising was led by a Tamaranian woman.”

“A princess.” Superman corrected softly, and Dr. Veritas examined the profile on the screen more closely.

“This is her?” she said. “Superman, this makes all the difference. This girl was sold to the Citadel and lived as a slave for half her life. The story is, she was given to the Psions for experimentation, and Psions conduct the most barbaric experiments ever recorded… if they tampered with her genetics in the right way, they could have made her genetic material receptive to foreign species.”

“Are you saying they made her… compatible with humans?” Superman clarified, frowning.

“Humans, Citadelians, maybe any other species!” Dr. Veritas exclaimed. “I’ve long wondered about the possibility of genotypic plasticity, but I’ve never heard of a successful subject! Superman, does this woman have a child with a human? I have to see this child!”

“No.” Superman said firmly. “She’s off-limits. Even if I wanted to bring her to you, I’d have to clear it with Batman first, and I have no doubt he’d never allow it.”

Dr. Veritas bit her lip, clearly beaten for the moment but not broken. “Fine, then.” she scoffed, waving Superman off. “If she ever gets sick, you know where to find me.”

 

   Damian shut the window to his room gingerly behind him. When his proximity sensors had beeped the arrival of Dick to his apartment, Damian had left the apartment in a hurry, leaving Mar’i giggling behind him. Now, he didn’t feel like explaining to Alfred or to his father why he was sneaking out his window instead of using the front door, so he tried to be a silent as possible…

The doorbell blared through the house, scaring the breath right out of Damian’s lungs.

Gasping resentfully, Damian pulled off his Robin uniform and quickly dressed in his usual jeans and hoodie. The doorbell pierced his room a couple more times, and Damian ground his teeth together every time it did.

 _Alfred must be out_ , Damian thought, running out from his room and sliding down the gigantic banister into the front room. Glancing at the security system, he smirked and opened the front door.

“No reporters are allowed on these premises.” he snapped. Clark Kent, tall and muscular even under his bulky sweatshirt, gave him a flat stare.

“Funny, Damian. Where’s your father?” he inquired.

“Out.” Damian replied shortly, already itching to get back to his own research.

“All right. Give him this, please?” Clark held out a flash drive, and Damian took it suspiciously. “And give him my regards, too.” Clark shoved his hands in his pockets and began to walk away.

“... Wait.” Damian called, against his better judgement, and Clark turned to him, perplexed. “The inhibitor collar. My father won’t give me any information about it. Do you know how his efforts to disconnect the collar are coming?”

Clark’s expression morphed into full-on disbelief. “The JLA collars used on villains with powers? Damian, Bruce helped invent those. Most of the failsafes are his tech. Why would you think he doesn’t know how to disconnect the collar?”

Cold fury sunk deeply into Damian’s bones. “No reason.” he said dismissively, and slammed the door in Clark’s face.


	8. The trap

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I originally meant for this chapter to be longer, but I figured any readers who are still here deserve what I've got. I'm still planning to finish this story, even if it has to be at a snail's pace. If you're still here: I do this for you.  
> In other news: Adderall.

   Only the glowing computer screens lit the darkness of the Bat Cave, cold and white on Bruce’s face. Rubbing his eyes and leaning back in his chair, Bruce thought vaguely about a cup of tea to ease his headache. The hunt for Black Mask fared...badly, to say the least. He and Robin uncovered no clues in the last bust that hadn’t lead to dead ends. All they found was the alien, and that only brought more trouble than she proved to be worth.

The perimeter sensors on the Bat computer lighting up broke his thoughts, alerting him to the boy entering the cave.

“Damian, good timing.” Bruce said, sitting forward in his chair again. “I need you on the docks tonight. There’s a big arms shipment arriving from Markovia, and I suspect Black Mask is involved. If we’re quick and quiet, we might be able to pick up on some leads he hasn’t covered yet.”

“Remove the collar.” came the quiet growl from behind him in response, startling Bruce out of his work-mode. Bruce spun the chair around to face his son wearing an unusually dark scowl, angry and focused on him.

“What did you say?” Bruce questioned cautiously.

“The collar on Mar’i.” Damian repeated with a snarl. “Remove it. Now.”

“I told you before, Damian. I ca-”

“Liar!” Damian shouted, cutting Bruce off. “You _can_ remove it! You _invented_ it!”

Bruce fell silent, momentarily stymied by his seething son.

“Removing the collar is out of the question.” he said finally. “Dick will keep her safe. She’s not in danger.”

“That is not the point!” Damian cried, his whole body singing with frustration. “The collar is a liability for everyone on this mission, and one that can be easily removed! Why, father?! Where is your hesitation coming from?”

“The girl is not our mission.” Bruce snapped, shocking Damian into silence. “Bringing Black Mask to justice is our mission, and the girl happened to be in our way. As for the collar, I made a judgment call and I stand by it. She was raised by a woman who destroyed a skyscraper that killed two people and injured ten more. The only humans she encountered were Red Hood and Arsenal, both internationally-wanted criminals, and that was _before_ she was kidnapped and tortured for a year. I couldn’t take the risk of unleashing her powers without knowing the state of her mental health. She has not proven herself trustworthy, and I cannot risk another Starfire emerging right now.”

Damian stood dumbfounded and outraged as his father swept out of his chair and towered over him, decked out in full dark knight costume.

“This girl has distracted you for long enough, Damian.” Bruce declared, his voice echoing like thunder through the cave. “Our mission is Black Mask, and you need to refocus on this _right now_. I forbid you from seeing the girl anymore. Leave her with Dick and get to the docks, Robin. We have work to do.”

Damian could only stand frozen in place, his whole body surging with adrenaline.

“Again, you have missed the point, father.” Damian said finally, fist clenched at his sides and shaking. “You lied to me. I trusted you. I took responsibility for Mar’i’s well-being, and my trust in you has put her in danger. Clearly, I won’t make that mistake again.”

Damian stormed from the cave, ignoring his father calling to him. Bruce nearly chased after him, but the computer suddenly alerted him of the ship’s proximity to Gotham’s harbor, indicating landing in twenty minutes. Cursing under his breath, Batman slammed his fists on the computer shelf in pure frustration. Now he had a highly sensitive and important mission but no one to carry it out. Batgirl was out of town with the Birds of Prey, Batwoman remained stubbornly unreachable, and Red Robin had his hands full with the Teen Titans. He had no other contacts in Gotham he could trust with this mission.

Grinding his teeth, Batman returned to monitoring the ship, feeling uncharacteristically stressed. Ten minutes later, the computer lit up with an incoming call from Dick.

“Bruce, Damian just broke into my apartment and took Mar’i. He ignored everything I said to him. What is going on?” Dick’s voice, strained with confusion and worry, came through the speakers. Bruce held one hand over his eyes, realizing that he was going to need a lot more than tea to cure this headache.

“Never mind that now, Dick.” he said irritably. “They’ll be fine. I need your help tonight. Meet me at the docks.”

 

   Mar’i hadn’t realized until this very moment how much she’d unconsciously trusted Robin. This moment, when she found herself on the back of his motorcycle, arms wrapped around his waist, the absurdity of the situation overwhelmed her. With not a word to Dick, and not a single explanation given, Robin simply broke into the apartment through the window, took Mar’i by the waist, and swooped out, flying through the sky on the strength of his grappling hook.

Mar’i gripped his waist a little tighter as he sped through the dark Gotham streets. She knew it was Robin by his scent, and if this was really the boy she knew, then she knew he had to have a good reason for his actions. He saved her and took care of her. She couldn’t find an evil bone in his body, not even if she looked, and she believed in that with all her strength. Wherever Robin was taking her, they would be ok.

Robin finally brought the motorcycle to a halt before the imposing steel gates of Arkham Asylum. As he removed his helmet, Mar’i clung to him even tighter, eyes locked on the gate.

“Why are we here?” she asked in a tiny voice.

“I’m going to take you to see your mother.” Robin answered.

 

   By the time Dick had finished his initial inventory of the illegal arms shipment, Batman had subdued all the hapless, cursing thugs hired to protect the truck delivering the goods. Dick frowned as he silently noticed the unusually dark bruises and excess blood decorating their faces.

“Who needs prisons when we can keep them in hospitals for just as long?” he tried to joke, but he felt Bruce’s icy glare even through the cowl.

“What did you find in the truck?” Batman snapped.

“Nothing of value.” Dick replied through a long exhale.

“That can’t be true.” Batman stormed into the truck himself, leaving Dick outside to watch the restrained thugs. One man’s head lolled unconsciously on his chest, and another man spat a globule of blood at Nightwing’s feet. When Batman returned, Dick imagined his cowl glowering even more darkly than before. He passed right by Nightwing and grabbed the driver of the truck by his shirt.

“Where were you taking the shipment?” Batman demanded, and Nightwing stared very closely at the man’s hands. After working with Bruce for so long, he knew how the interrogations would work. First came the resistance.

“You can’t scare me, Bats.” the man muttered, eyes downcast and refusing to look into the cowl’s eyes.

“Wrong answer.” Batman growled and gripped his shirt tighter. Nightwing knew immediately by the pronounced trembling of the man’s hands that he would break soon. Before he could move in to aid, however, Batman deftly dislocated the man’s shoulder.

“Try again.” Batman said loudly over the screaming.

“Batman.” Nightwing said warningly, and was ignored.

“D-Downtown! Parking lot below the Corson building on 21st!” the man howled.

“He’s telling the truth.” Nightwing interjected quickly. With an inscrutable glance at his partner, Batman popped the shoulder back into its socket and dropped the pale, crying man back onto the pavement. With a jerk of his head, he lead Nightwing back to the Batmobile.

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Nightwing inquired as they sped down the quiet Gotham streets.

“Black Mask is getting sloppy.” Batman replied. “That building is his building. He isn’t even scrambling the shipment.”

“Or he’s setting a trap.” Nightwing said, like it should have been obvious to the world’s greatest detective. Then he noticed Batman’s tight grip on the steering wheel. “You already know.” Nightwing realized aloud. “And we’re going in anyway.”

“No way around it.” Batman said grimly. “We need to bring Black Mask to justice.”

Slowly, Nightwing came to understand the end of Batman’s thought, the part he didn’t say aloud, and Nightwing couldn’t believe how he missed it until now. We have to bring Black Mask to justice, Batman thought, because it’s the only way for me to get my son back.

 

   Mar’i clung tightly to Robin’s hand as he led her through the grimy white hallways of Arkham Asylum’s long-term hospital ward. She had never seen Arkham before, and hardly knew anything about it beyond the frightened whispering of the men who guarded her during her year in captivity. All she knew was that they seemed to prefer being dead than being sentenced to Arkham Asylum.

Now, Robin was telling her that her mother was here. She couldn’t even begin to imagine why.

Nobody bothered to stop Robin from marching through the halls. A few doctors spared them curious glances, but most averted their eyes and continued on their way. Everyone stepped aside when Robin passed by, giving him a respectful distance. He took her through the silent white halls of the Asylum hospital long-term ward, and she couldn’t stop herself from looking into the clear windows of the rooms they walked by. Many patients lay motionless on their standard-issue metal-framed beds; several were restrained, bound hand and foot to the bed, and she even saw one person in a full-body cast. In several rooms, nurses coaxed patients into taking their daily medication, or adjusted their IV drips. Once, she spotted a nurse sedating a man crying about a phantom pain in his missing arm. Mar’i took Robin’s hand with both of hers, dread settling in her stomach like a lead weight.

The two stopped before the door to a room at the end of the hallway. Standing half-behind Robin, Mar’i couldn’t see anything remarkable about the room. Same white hospital walls, same standard-issue bedframe… until she noticed a cascade of red hair trailing off the edge.

“Mommy.” she whispered, her heart jumping so badly she thought it might bust through her throat. “Mommy.” she repeated, slightly louder and more desperate. Then, the fire inside her flared. “MOMMY!” she screamed, and rushed past Robin into the room.

Koriand’r, like so many others in Arkham Asylum’s hospital ward, lay still and expressionless. Her chest rose and fell in a steady motion and her glowing green eyes blinked, but she was lost somewhere inside her own mind. Mar’i nearly collapsed on the bed as she shook her mother’s arm, rattling the thin inhibitor handcuffs around Kory’s wrist.

“Mom! Mommy!” Mar’i cried. “Mommy, I’m here! It’s me, mom! Wake up! Mommy! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!”

Robin approached, slowly and silently as possible, but he didn’t disturb Mar’i. She couldn’t hear anything anyway. “Mom.” she wailed, pounding her fists on the bed. “It’s me. Why won’t you wake up? Please, mommy, I miss you so much. I miss you so much…”

Damian blinked hard behind his mask, throat tight. He couldn’t seem to stop repeating Mar’i’s words in his mind as she buried her face in the white sheet beside Kori and sobbed.

_Mommy. I miss you so much. Mommy. I miss you so much. Mommy…_

 

    Batman stepped through the shadows of the dim parking garage, calm but alert. Though he couldn’t see Nightwing, he knew Dick was in position around the other side. Everything about the empty, brightly-lit parking garage screamed trap, so Batman chose the most efficient method of springing it: waltzing right in.

"Took you long enough." a deep drawl answered his entrance, and from the same shadows emerged the masked visage of Deathstroke.

“Slade.” Batman growled. “What use is Black Mask putting you to this time?”

“Easy.” Slade carelessly drew the heavy sword from his back. “I never miss an opportunity to kill the Batman, especially with so many zeroes attached. But before I silence you, my employer has a question he’d like you to answer.”

Deathstroke pointed the tip of the sword directly at Batman’s heart and said, “Where is the girl?”


	9. The conflict

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short and sweet again, but this is what I got. I'm going for gold on this story because it managed to rack up kudos somehow? I love you all.  
> I have my own headcanons about how long Dick and Kory have known each other. I may even use them.

   “Where is the girl?”

Nightwing launched himself from the shadows, intending to tackle Slade to the ground. Batman nearly called out a warning, but it was already too late. Deathstroke used Nightwing’s own momentum to launch him across the garage, right into a cement pole. Nightwing crashed with a hard thud and crumpled to the ground. Cursing to himself, Batman tossed a couple of Batarangs that each released a sizeable electric charge on anyone who caught them. Deathstroke deflected them all with his sword as Batman leaped over to Nightwing. He knew he could take out Slade, but not while trying to defend an unconscious Dick.

Nightwing was already regaining consciousness, however, groaning in pain the whole way. Batman had just enough time to ready himself when Deathstroke was on top of him, slashing back and forth with heavy swings of his sword. Batman blocked them easily enough with his arm guards, but Slade had him on the defensive. Batman danced around, trying to maneuver away from Nightwing, while Deathstroke swung at every angle, searching for a flaw in his defense.

The second Nightwing could stand, he loosed angry yell and jumped on Slade’s back, wrapping his arms around Slade’s heavily armored neck. Deathstroke was only surprised for a second; in the next second, he swung Nightwing around and slammed him against the same cement pole. Nightwing grunted, and Batman heard an awful crunch that had him sick to his stomach. He rushed forward, but Deathstroke swung Nightwing around again and threw him right into Batman, sending them both reeling back.

Nightwing coughed up a glob of blood onto Batman’s suit. Batman readied a defensive smoke bomb, but his hand stilled when he heard the click of several safety locks.

“One more time.” Slade said, slightly out of breath. A wall of Black Mask’s hired muscle lined the exits, all pointing semi-automatics at the downed dynamic duo. “Where is the girl? My employer is eager to have his possession back.”

Surreptitiously, Batman touched the communicator in his mask. “Robin?” he murmured. “Nightwing is injured. We need backup, now.”

 

   Mar’i cried with her head on her mother’s shoulder for forty minutes straight. She cried for her mother, she cried for her father, she cried for her uncle Jay and uncle Roy, and she cried for the collar around her neck and the thugs hunting her. She cried for the warmth of Robin’s hand, the only kindness she’d felt since Black Mask took her. She cried for how cold she always felt, how powerless and scared and alone. She cried herself into exhaustion, clinging to the one person she couldn’t bear to lose, the one she thought she had lost forever.

Finally, her tears died down, and she let herself breathe deeply as she recovered for a minute. Wiping her messy, wet face, she sat up and looked around for Robin. She found him standing at attention by the door, like a soldier guarding his queen. She hiccuped in unexpected laughter, and he turned to face her.

“Are you… ok?” he asked uncertainly. A slow smile spread across her face, warm and affectionate.

“Yeah.” She replied hoarsely. “I’m ok.”

Robin smiled, perplexed, but Mar’i felt warmth radiating from him nonetheless.

Then Robin suddenly tensed, alarm on his face. He touched the receiver in his ear, listening intently, and grimaced.

“Mar’i, I have to go.” he said grimly. “Batman needs me.” He cocked his head briefly, considering, then ordered, “Find Aaron Cash. Do not speak to anyone other than Cash, and absolutely do not follow anyone else. Have him escort you to the Wayne mansion. Alfred will let you in.”

“Wayne?” Mar’i repeated, bewildered. “I don’t understand. Robin, please don’t leave me!”

Robin grimaced, torn between Mar’i and the door. “I’m doing this for you, Mar’i.” he said, rather cryptically to Mar’i, and then rushed out the door.

Mar’i simply stared at the empty doorway, suspended in shock while perched beside her catatonic mother. For a long moment, she allowed herself space to breathe, as deep breathing seemed to help her keep the overwhelming panic at bay. Her gaze lingered on her mother’s empty eyes, and briefly she considered simply curling up at Kory's side and hiding until this bad dream faded. However, her heart knew this wasn’t a dream, and her mind knew she wasn’t safe here without Robin. Reluctantly, she pulled herself away from her mother’s side and left the room.

Mar’i proceeded down the hallway cautiously, every sense on fire as she watched for danger. The hallway was unusually empty, devoid of even the staff she’d seen on her way in. Mar’i felt oddly disoriented, like she’d been picked up and dropped off in an entirely different hospital without her noticing. Then, an Arkham guard turned the corner sharply, frightening Mar’i nearly out of her skin.

“Excuse me!” Mar’i called, voice weak from surprise. “Are you Mr. Cash?”

“I’m sorry, girl.” The guard said, drawing handcuffs from his belt. The tone of his voice, half remorse and half frozen fear, sent chills up and down Mar’i skin. “I don’t want to do this, but Black Mask has my family.”

 

   Slade’s hits, Batman slowly came to realize, were hard but unfocused. Batman knew better than to believe that a master fighter like Deathstroke would resort to wide, heavy swings that certainly hurt but wouldn’t incapacitate the Batman. Even for his bulk,. Bruce knew that Slade could toss his giant sword across a room and nail a spider on the wall with near-perfect accuracy. Slade knew how to use his strength even on pinpoint targets, but this time, his strategy seemed to be quantity over quality.

Around and around the empty parking lot Batman and Deathstroke danced, locked in an endless cycle of Deathstroke slashing and Batman parrying. To the side, Nightwing crouched on the cold cement and struggled to breathe, aware that something inside him was broken but too angry to care. Neither of noticed the thugs lining the perimeter going down silently, one by one.

“Black Mask,” Dick rasped, feeling a dark rage bubble up from a long-hidden place within him, “you sick sonuvabitch.”

Batman grunted in pain as Deathstroke finally broke through his defense and slammed the hilt of his sword into his gut. Trying in vain to keep his breath even, Batman tossed a smoke grenade for cover. Deathstroke responded with an outrageous laugh.

“You think I’m blinded by a little smoke? You think you can disable me with this pathetic mist? You truly believe you can escape me, Batman? I know your tricks! You can’t hide from me! I’ll- AARG!”

Nightwing, crouched in a corner of the empty lot, and Batman, hidden in the shadows, jumped in surprise at Deathstroke’s unexpected yowl of pain. Then, they heard swords clanging, locked in battle.

In a matter of minutes, by the time the smoke had dissapated, Robin had his sword digging into the broken armor hiding Slade’s throat. Robin ripped the mask from his face. Slade, on his knees before a twelve-year-old, gave the Bats an unsettling grin.

“It’s amazing what being a killer can do for you, isn’t it, Robin?” he said conversationally.

“Shut it.” Robin growled. “I bested you without killing you.”

“Of course you did.” Slade replied, sounding amused. Chills ran up and down the back of Dick’s neck.

Robin pressed the sword against his neck a little harder. “Where is Black Mask?!”

“Probably with the girl by now.” Slade said, grin growing wider. Robin sucked in a quick breath, an unintentional tell of shock that he quickly suppressed. Slade’s sharp eyes, however, missed nothing. With a soft chuckle, he added, “So good of you to join our little distraction, Robin. We really couldn’t have completed this job without you.”

Robin’s whole body flashed cold.

Dick suddenly felt Kori’s voice in his mind, echoing words she said to him years ago. He had just told her of the death of his parents, and she held him close while he cried into her shoulder. As she stroked his hair, she said mournfully, “Childhood is too precious and so easily lost. We have too much time to grow up and experience the horrors of the world, but never enough to remain young and admire the wonder in everything.”

Mar’i’s face, hardened by pain, fear and mistrust, swam in his mind. Dick felt his skin flash hot and cold, and his head began to spin. My daughter, he thought faintly. Mar’i. They have my daughter.

He couldn’t hear Batman and Robin calling his name as he faded from consciousness.


End file.
